Joe Scarborough: Robert Bergdahl put son ‘in danger’

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on Monday stood by his criticism of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s father, saying that he endangered the lives of his son and his fellow platoon members.

“The father puts the lives of everybody that he’s serving with on the line,” the “Morning Joe” co-host said of Robert Bergdahl on Monday morning. “But more importantly — for some people who’ve criticized me for saying that I didn’t understand what a father would do when someone is in captivity — the second thing is, he put his son in harm’s way and in danger” by not informing the Army that Bergdahl was in trouble.

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Scarborough, who is a guest columnist for POLITICO, didn’t apologize for the on-air argument he had with MSNBC contributor Chuck Todd last Thursday over the former’s criticism of the soldier’s father. He accused Robert Bergdahl of “reaching out to pro-Taliban forces” and “reach[ing] out to the Voice of Jihad.”

In a tense back-and-forth exchange, Todd advised Scarborough not to criticize Bergdahl’s parents and said the host was “backseat driving how someone parents.”

“No, that is not backseat driving. I am a father. Any good father would not tell their son to follow their conscience and leave men and women on the line,” Scarborough replied.

“Wow,” Todd said, shaking his head.

Robert Bergdahl has attracted some negative attention since his appearance in the White House Rose Garden, during which he spoke a message to his son in the Afghan language of Pashto. Recent reports have indicated that he emailed his son in Afghanistan in June 2009 telling him to “obey your conscience,” a message that Scarborough seized on Monday.